Investment Banking vs Asset Management: What is the better career choice for you?

Finance is a world full of opportunities for budding entrepreneurs and individuals with a financial background. It offers lucrative career paths to finance students because the jobs are high paying, and the benefits are endless. But new students can often find it daunting to choose a particular role or path because once you start working towards a particular career, you have to stick with your choice. To make your choices easier, let’s take a look at the two most common areas in the world of finance - investment banking and asset management. 

 

Investment banking

 

Investment banking is the process of creating or raising capital for companies, banks, governments and other entities. Investment banking companies are involved in mergers and acquisitions, new securities underwriting, stock purchases and more. An investment banker’s job can further offer specializations in consulting, banking analysis, capital market analyses, research, trading and more. 

 

Asset Management

 

Assets are an important part of any business, company or organization. In simple terms, it is any resource that is owned by a company or an individual in addition to receivables from others. Asset management is crucial for businesses, especially big companies who often struggle to keep full track of their assets. This is where asset managers come in and help companies stay on the right track, mitigate risks and manage their assets better. They help their clients reach their investment goals through personalised strategies. They work with various clients like individuals, insurance companies, pension funds, governments etc. Their job role includes analysing financial statements, estate planning, advising on complicated buying and selling strategies like investing in long-only funds and more. 

 

The basic education requirement for investment bankers and asset managers is a bachelor’s degree. Moreover, an advanced degree from a prestigious or an Ivy League university is often preferred by the big, reputed companies. Aspirants should often be good at crunching numbers, have good analytical skills, excel in accounting and be knowledgeable in economics. 

 

No matter which career you choose, getting started with a good internship is often beneficial and can help you build a strong network in the finance industry.